Roads Untraveled
by Mistress of the Arts
Summary: Matthew Kaiba, adopted son of Seto, arrives at Duel Academy for his third and final year. His dreams? To be the next King of Games. However, the memories of his past keep leading him down roads untraveled...ones with the mysterious Alicia Devlin and his childhood friend he cannot seem to find. Everything happens for a reason, especially at Duel Academy. -OC/OC Jaden/Alexis-


_A/N: Annnnnnnnnnd I'm back, after almost a decade! Yeah, can't believe it's been that long. XD Anywhoo, I was going through and reading my old GX fanfictions to my beau - and since he and I are obsessed with dueling against one another and playing Duel Monsters and all - this little hatchling of an idea was produced. So let's see how my darling and I fare as students at Duel Academy! _

_Contains: Mild swearing, suggestive themes, and vicious random chaos. Takes place during __**Season 3**__ with a slight __**AU **__storyline. Contains OCs and OC-centric. DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ, DON'T COMMENT. That is all! :) _

_Yu-Gi-Oh! GX & Characters _© _Kazuki Takahashi_

_Original Characters & Storyline _© _Mistress of the Arts_

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_**Chapter I**_

_**Lost Daydreams**_

Just another day, another place, another group of people he'd have to please again.

God, how irritating.

Why couldn't he have been adopted by someone who wasn't as famous and wealthy as Seto Kaiba? Sure, Matthew loved his father and uncle and was grateful that they had adopted him from that godforsaken orphanage all those years ago, but after awhile, a guy could start to hate the fanatics and freaks that came along with the world of the blue-bloods.

Which is why the last thing he wanted while attending his foster father's prestigious dueling institution was to be surrounded by a bunch of other rich kids whose only really quality was being snotty and thinking that commoner kids were just the insects to scrape off the bottom of their expensive shoes.

Matthew left the Chancellor's office with a happier smile on his face than when he went in an hour ago. After convincing Chancellor Crowler and the vice-chancellor that he would put in a good word with his father to get Duel Academy on the map and more publicity, Matthew had managed to trade-in that obnoxious blue uniform and the keys to that ritzy and huge dorm that would feel like it would only swallow him up. Now he had the keys to a simpler, yet still nice dorm in the Ra Yellow barracks.

Moving down the corridors, Matthew walked with his hands tucked into the pockets of his black jeans, his finger idly twirling the silver chain he had hanging on the left side as he glanced at the ceiling. He had just shoved his Obelisk blue blazer over to the two and grabbed a yellow vest, trimmed in white, and pulled it on over his dark gray t-shirt. He had also exchanged those uncomfortable and tight expensive black and blue sneakers for a nicer and more well-fitting pair of yellow and gray ones. It felt nice to actually feel…

Normal.

Matthew's lips twitched into a small smile as the feeling of normalcy washed over him. It was a familiar feeling, but vague nonetheless. It had been eight years since he last felt normal, wearing tattered shorts and a t-shirt much too big as he ran around the Domino Orphanage, giggling and chasing his friend Al around the swings. Black hair always a messy mop on top of his head, falling into his big and dark brown eyes.

Daydreaming about the only real fond memories he had at the orphanage was the only real solace Matthew Kaiba found anymore. Well, other than when he was hanging out with his Uncle Mokuba. At least he had a sense of normalcy playing basketball with Mokuba, whenever his father was busy with the company or at some press conference halfway across the world.

Unfortunately, due to a press conference all the way stateside, that had made Matthew transfer three weeks late into the semester. It was a little annoying - despite the fact he got to spend his birthday in Italy - because this would be his first year at Duel Academy. He had spent his first year going to West and South Academy, half a year each. Last year was East and North Academy. Now, he would graduate officially as a student at Duel Academy - the very first academy that his father, Seto Kaiba, had opened.

He only hoped that this year, he'd be able to make some friends. _Real friends _- not ones out for publicity or to just try and get into his father's wallet. The only true friends he had at least went to school here - Chazz Princeton and Salima D'André. He looked forward to seeing their faces again, the last time he had seen then having been junior high.

Right now, he had to find his dorm and get settled in before the afternoon classes started.

Matthew came to a stop in the courtyard, next to one of the stone carvings and took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet air. It was warm outside, the breeze ever so softly teasing his slightly shaggy black hair, falling to the nape of his neck with bangs that fell ever so slightly into his brown eyes. He closed his eyes as he listened, just _listened_ for a moment.

This was the first time he ever felt so relaxed.

Lost in a daydream that maybe this would be his time - a time to actually settle down, to have a little bit of normalcy in his crazy life - Matthew opened his eyes as he pulled out the locket from underneath his shirt. It was shaped like that of a Duel Monsters card, just like the one his beloved uncle wore.

It was the only present from his father that had actually meant something, given to him on his seventeenth birthday last week as they stood in the middle of the Coliseum in Rome. He could remember the streaks of red and orange across the sky from the setting sun, seeing the way his father's blue eyes were distant as he spoke of the gladiators and the battles that had happened on the very soil in which they stood.

It was then that he had passed down his greatest gift in the eight years that Seto had been raising him.

Biting his lip, Matthew clicked open the locket to stare admiringly down at the Blue Eyes White Dragon card. It was his father's most prized card, with only three in existence since his father had destroyed the fourth copy.

One of them had been entrusted to his son. The other to his brother. The last one was kept on his being at all times.

It was their bond - as family.

He only hoped that he wouldn't let them down.

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The Ra dorms were quaint and nice, feeling more homey than the Obelisk dorms would've. He hated giant rooms filled with unimportant expensive stuff - the money could've been used for something else. Like feeding the kids who were out on the streets starving.

Yeah, he used to be one of those street rats.

Knowing he'd never have to go hungry again should've comforted him, but Matthew couldn't stand to swallow the fifty dollar dinners. He wanted to puke just at the thought of eating anything high class and rich. He could dine like a king, but the only thought he would have would make him puke it back up.

The only thing he could think of was Al, back at the orphanage. He never knew what happened to him. He prayed that he had been adopted too. He tried to go back to the orphanage, but living all the way across town had made it impossible, especially after Matthew had been shipped off to Australia come high school.

He could still picture his childhood friend easily in his head. Wild brown hair, shaggy and falling into his face all the time. Wide and toothy grin with missing front teeth, from taking a few punches from the asshole bullies who had nothing better to do. Matthew shook his head as he recalled all those fights that they would get into. A lot of the other kids thought Al was weird - he was secretive and skittish, flinching every single time anyone other than Matthew tried to touch him.

There was a reason behind it, one that only Matthew knew of besides the caretakers. Al had been taken from his home when he was five. His father had passed away and that left in the care of his mother, who was abusive. Verbally, physically, emotionally. When Al had been taken away and put in foster care, he had barely been recognizable - covered in bruises and hair chopped short and uneven. Bloodied lips and a broken arm.

Matthew had been the first one to talk to him. Been the first one to show that he wasn't going to hit him or pick on him for being scrawny and weak. They became the best of friends - they defended each other. A year passed and Al was laughing again, being silly and going on crazy adventures on the playground.

It wasn't just Al's personality that pulled bullies toward him.

It was his eyes.

Being born with heterochromatic eyes was something that made other kids wary. They didn't see what Matthew saw - amazing eyes that were bright and full of life. They saw a freak - a mutant. Simply because Al's left eye had been blue and the right had been green.

They didn't understand different. They feared it. They lashed out and attacked it due to feeling inferior for not understanding. It was human nature.

It was sickening.

Sighing, Matthew quickly pulled himself from his thoughts as he finally sat up from his bed, running his fingers through his black tresses, his gaze landing on the black and purple striped wristband on his right wrist. It was tattered and looked several years old - for it was. It had been the very first birthday present he had ever gotten. It had been from Al.

The only reminder he had of his childhood friend.

The one he didn't even know if was dead or alive.

A thick lump formed in his throat, with Matthew hastily getting to his feet and grabbed his purple messenger bag, which held all of the text books he would need for his afternoon classes. His other books were resting on the desk beside his laptop. He picked up his PDA after disconnecting it from the USB port, seeing that it had synced all of his contact information and everything else he needed, including his class schedule, his dorm information, his locker combination, and even all the email contacts he had. The PDA was like that of a cellular phone as well, since cell phones didn't work at Duel Academy - no reception. It was the best way for students to contact one another or professors to send out homework assignments. It was nifty, that was for sure.

Examining it after grabbing his black headphones with purple skull design on the sides, Matthew pulled them on over his ears and plugged them into the PDA, which had also synced his music library. He selected his Linkin Park mix as he moved to sling the strap across his shoulder, leaving the dorm. He made sure the door was locked tight after placing the card key back into his wallet, it attached to the chain. He tucked it safely into his back pocket before leaving the dorm.

It would take him about fifteen minutes to hike his way back to the Main Building for his Duel Alchemy class. Matthew didn't want to leave a poor impression on any of his teachers - it was his first day after-all. He also had to keep in mind that he _was_ the son of Seto Kaiba, the owner of the academy. The last thing he wanted was to cause his father any embarrassment.

Matthew had just stepped outside and was walking passed the gazebo when time seemed to slow. He had barely made it around the bend when suddenly, all he could see was blue and green, brown strands the color of caramel whipping into sight.

The next thing he knew, he was sprawled across the ground and weight was on his chest.

Groaning, brown eyes opened slowly, only to suddenly feel all the heat in his body flooding his face. There was a loud shriek as hands immediately tugged down the red skirt over her black lacy panties, the sight forever imprinted in the boy's mind. All he could do was hastily cover his face as she flailed off him, staggering back. Her black combat boots, trimmed in red, skidded against the dirt trail as she leapt back from him, holding down the hem of her red skirt that stopped just past mid-thigh. Matthew slowly sat up and peeked through his fingers, looking up to see her left eye - bright blue in shade - twitching violently as she lifted her fist threateningly. Her Slifer red blazer was hanging open, revealing the black spaghetti strap top underneath, the hem revealing a small amount of skin between the hems of the top and the skirt, showing her navel. Her long hair fell down to mid-back in a thick cascade, the strands straight but shimmering richly like caramel. Her side-parted bangs fell to her collar and framed around her face.

It was her face that made him stop breathing. He had never seen such a beautiful girl before in his life. She had a beauty mark near the corner of her mouth, her lips full and a soft pink shade. Her nose was pixie-like, endearing. Yet the most amazing thing about her had to be her eyes.

One blue, one green.

Both so bright, they stood out even without her eyeliner and mascara.

"Watch it, Ra Reject!" she snapped. "Next time I'll report you! Don't think I won't! You try being one of the only two sexes in your dorm and see how it feels being groped and cat called all the time! God!" She snatched her back-pack, shaped like a cat, and slung it over her shoulders. "Great, just great, now I'm late to the _only_ class I like! Thanks a lot!"

Matthew could simply stare as she stormed off, grumbling the whole way. He sat in the dirt, one headphone askew and staring after her with a tall tale blush marring his tawny cheeks. He was stunned and in shock, and even more so…

He was blown away.

_There's actually a girl in the Slifer dorms? And she's really cute? Holy shit._

He had to talk to his father about this later.

There was a loud shrill bell that sounded all over the island, signaling that class had started. Jumping, Matthew hastily scrambled back to his feet and took off in a run toward the Main Building, wondering just what kind of chaos awaited while here at Duel Academy.

Oh well. At least it wasn't as bad as his first day at South Academy. Hanging from trees by his ankle for four hours while being laughed at wasn't his fondest school memory.

Being flashed by a cute girl on the other hand…

What could he say.

He was a teenager after all, son of Seto Kaiba or not.

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_A/N: So… thoughts on the first chapter? Let me know in a review. Can't wait to see how Matthew interacts with Jaden and the others! Thanks for reading!_

-Mistress of the Arts


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